The Old Prophet

            The old prophet stared at the ink drying on the parchment. Perhaps he did not want to pass on these words, harsh sentences that condemned, “For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind.” Hosea 8:7 Possibly he gazed out a window, ruminating on the truth these words carried. Considering the culture and geography in which he lived, these words spoke loudly about a society given over to self-satisfaction at the expense of the poor and downtrodden. Would his people, whom he loved, listen? Would they take heed? Would they alter their behavior? Perchance it was with a weary heart and soul, he picked up the quill and continued.

            Often during the past weeks as the protests in Portland have continued, discussions filling my Facebook feed raged with similar intensity. Some support the Black Lives Matter movement and their objectives. After all, we are a nation that supposedly embraces the ideal of “all men are created equal.” And they are correct. Others, point out that these protests have caused great damage, often turning into riots filled with wanton looting. And they are correct. Looting and casual destruction of property are wrong. We cannot simply ignore such behavior, but my mind turns toward the millennia-old phrase, “For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. I wonder if we are reaping the whirlwind today?

            No matter how you read our history, we consistently tell men and women of color that they do not truly have a seat at the national table. For centuries we’ve erected and maintained a variety of societal structures and institutions designed to keep those of color from truly accessing the American dream. We only grudgingly enact some minor modifications after great societal upheaval. Our intransigence in making any real change to these deeply ingrained structures has sown seeds of pain, frustration, and anger over four centuries.

            For some of us, life does not afford much in the way of opportunity to witness such deprivations. We live in areas that are largely homogeneous, or we live lives structured in such a way as to avoid confronting societal disparities. This is not my problem we think. But, even if we do not actively participate in enforcing the status quo, when we support those politicians that do, or policies that reinforce those walls that separate, we sow the seeds of discontent. When we disparage those who engage in peaceful protest, berating them, insisting that they are somehow unpatriotic for their stance, we sow the seeds of frustration. When we honor those who seek to keep minorities in their place, we sow the seeds of restlessness. Sooner or later these seeds sprout, and we must deal with their fruits.

            If we hope to make progress toward the noble goals articulated in such foundational documents as The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, his Second Inaugural Address, and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, we must learn to listen, seriously listen, and then take appropriate action. I do not have all the answers, but I know that if we sit down together and listen instead of condemning all due to some bad actors, we might make progress towards a better, more United States. We can no longer relegate movements such as Black Lives Matter to the fringes of society or ignore them, labeling them as criminal or subversive. We must make real progress in removing those societal barriers and structures that keep large portions of our populace away from achieving their best success. If we want the words of our foundational documents to mean something, we must offer an open hand and not a closed, parsimonious fist.